Apollos

Apollos

Apollos (Απολλως; contracted from Apollonius) was an early Jewish Christian, who is mentioned several times in the New Testament. His special gifts in presenting Christian doctrine made him an important person in the congregation at Corinth, Greece after Paul's first visit there (1 Corinthians 3:6). He was with Paul at a later date in Ephesus (1 Cor. 16:12). In 1 Cor. 1:10-12 we read of four parties in the Corinthian church, of which two attached themselves to Paul and Apollos respectively, using their names, though the "division" can hardly have been due to conflicting doctrines, and there is no indication that Apollos favored or approved an overestimation of his person.

Paul considered Apollos to be a valuable helper in carrying on his work in the important Corinthian congregation (1 Cor. 3:6, 4:6, 16:12). In harmony with Paul's notices are the statements of the Acts of the Apostles (18:24-28) that Apollos was a highly educated Alexandrian Jew, who came to Ephesus (probably in 54), was instructed more accurately in the gospel there by Aquila and Priscilla and afterwards settled in Achaia, where he showed himself useful to the Church by speaking and teaching with power and success.

It is difficult to get a correct idea of his religious standpoint; but it probably was that of the so-called disciples of John the Baptist (Acts 19:1-7). Taken all in all, it may be said that Apollos was a zealous missionary, who, while confessing Jesus, did not have the full New Testament revelation, and stood in danger of becoming antagonistic to the apostolic message to all the world; he became, however, an adherent of the Pauline doctrine, and the author of the Acts of the Apostles thought this fact of sufficient importance to be included in his history. In the Epistle to Titus (3:13) Apollos is mentioned, with Zenas, as bearer of the letter to Crete.

Apollos may have captivated his hearers by teaching "wisdom," as P. W. Schmiedel suggests, in the allegorical style of Philo, and he was evidently a man of unusual magnetic force. There seems to be some contradiction between Acts 18:25 "a b" and Acts 18:25 "c", 26 "b c"; and it has been suggested that these latter passages are subsequent accretions, the argument being that since Apollos was a Christian and "taught exactly," he could hardly have been acquainted only with John's baptism or have required to be taught Christianity more thoroughly by Aquila and Priscilla. An interpretation of this passage that avoids this conclusion is nevertheless possible. In the next chapter of Acts we learn that Paul arrives in Ephesus, where Apollos had been doing missionary work previously, only to find believers there that had never heard of the holy spirit (Acts 19:2) which had been poured out on the believers in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:4). This was the baptism of holy spirit that Jesus said would follow the water bapitism of John (Acts 1:5). Apollos was thus "taught exactly" in the way of the Lord as pertaining to Jesus' earthly ministry, but lacked the full knowledge of what had happened on the day of Pentecost when Christ had sent the paracletes or the comforter that he had promised would guide the believers to the full truth (John 16:12,13). This was the truth that Priscilla and Aquila had learned from Paul and that they now shared thoroughly with Apollos.

Martin Luther regarded Apollos as the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews, and many scholars since have shared his view.

Jerome says that Apollos was so dissatisfied with the division at Corinth, that he retired into Crete with Zenas, a doctor of the law; and that the schism having been healed by Paul's letter to the Corinthians, Apollos returned to the city, and became its bishop. Less probable traditions assign to him the bishopric of Duras, or of Iconium in Phrygia, or of Caesarea.

He is regarded as a saint by several Christian churches, including the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod, which hold a commemoration for him, Aquila, and Priscilla on February 13.

References

* Articles in
**"Encyclopaedia Biblica"
**Herzog-Hauck, "Realencyklopadie"
**"The Jewish Encyclopaedia" ( [http://jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=1650&letter=A&search=Apollos Jewish Encyclopedia: Apollos] )
*James Hastings, "Dictionary of the Bible"
* Karl Heinrich von Weizsäcker, "Das apostolische Zeitalter" (1886)
* A. C. McGiffert, "History of Christianity in the Apostolic Age".
* "Initial text from Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religion"
*


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать реферат

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Apollos — de Césarée Demande de traduction Apollos → …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Apollos — ist eine Gestalt aus dem Neuen Testament der Bibel. Apollos war ein gelehrter, redegewandter und im Alten Testament bibelfester Jude aus Alexandria. Er kannte und predigte die christliche Botschaft in Ephesus, war aber in einigen Details schlecht …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Apollos — Apollos, Jude aus Alexandria, in Ephesos zum Christenthum bekehrt; in Korinth, wo er mit Beifall lehrte, nannte sich eine Partei nach ihm, welche die einfache Apostellehre geringschätzte. Doch stand A. selbst mit dem Apostel Paulus gut u. wurde… …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

  • Apollos — Apollŏs, gelehrter Judenchrist aus Alexandria (Apostelgesch. 18), wirkte bes. in Korinth für seine Auffassung des Christentums, von einigen für den Verfasser des Hebräerbriefs gehalten …   Kleines Konversations-Lexikon

  • Apollos — Apollos, alexandrinischer, gelehrter Jude, der in Ephesus Christ wurde und durch seine Beredsamkeit und Schriftkunde viel zur Ausbreitung des Christenthums unter den Juden beitrug (Apostelgesch. 18,24 u. s. 1. Korinth. 4,6. 16,12. Tit. 3,13.) …   Herders Conversations-Lexikon

  • Apollos, S. (1) — 1S. Apollos (Apollonius), Abb. (25. Jan.) Der hl. Apollos (Gr. Άπολλώς) – oder, wie er auch genannt wird, Apollonius – war ein Abt in der Thebais in Aegypten und ging nach dem Berichte des Palladius im 15. Lebensjahre, also noch sehr jung, in die …   Vollständiges Heiligen-Lexikon

  • Apollos — (first century)    Missionary.    According to the Acts of the Apostles, Apollos was a Jew, a native of Alexandria. He came as a preacher to Ephesus, but he knew only the baptism of John the baptist, not that of Jesus. His theology was corrected… …   Who’s Who in Christianity

  • Apollos — An Alexandrian Jew who is said to have ‘taught accurately the things concerning Jesus’ (Acts 18:25) and yet, amazingly, ‘knew only the baptism of John’. Priscilla and Aquila filled in his inadequate knowledge and in Corinth Apollos soon became a… …   Dictionary of the Bible

  • Apollos, S. (2) — 2S. Apollos (Apollo), (9. Dec.), ein geborener Jude aus Alexandria, lehrte zu Korinth. S. das Weitere unter S. Apollo5 …   Vollständiges Heiligen-Lexikon

  • Apollos — Apọllos,   Gestalt des Neuen Testaments; nach Apostelgeschichte 18, 24 ff. ein philosophisch gebildeter Jude aus Alexandria und urkirchlicher Missionar in Ephesos und Korinth. Seine Popularität in Korinth führte innerhalb der Gemeinde zur… …   Universal-Lexikon

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”